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“A feel good experience no matter who you are, where you are at, or where you are going.”

“This workshop gave me great tools that I will use. Amazing and Awesome!”

“Many feelings and experiences I have been having are shared by others, it was so reassuring to realize this in a happy, friendly, safe place.”

“I had such a positive session. A great combination of laughter, sharing and relaxation.”

“I feel thankful to have heard people’s stories of strength, compassion and hope.”

The Hope Workshop for People Affected by Cancer is a chance for people who have been affected by cancer to come together, tell their stories, share resources and laugh.

I must admit that I was nervous presenting the Hope Workshop for the first time. It has been my pleasure to be in many shows over the years both written and improvised, but last night was the first time I had presented a workshop. I told a buddy of mine that one of the great things about doing an event like this is that the people in the room bring so much of themselves to the evening. It was kind of mind blowing to see the group “Yes and” me like crazy!

I pretty much consider Improvisation to be magic. I have seen it used to create plays, books, films and music but I have never heard of it used to help people deal with a disease like cancer. Well, that’s what we used it for last night. The entire first chunk of the workshop was adapted from Improv exercises which helped us create community remarkably quickly and led us into the rest of the evening. People talked about really big issues in a very supportive way and in the midst of all this growth…we had fun! Big Buckets of Fun. I just felt so honoured to be in the presence of these fine people who had their own specific experience and story to tell.

In my introduction to the event, I had said that “there is lot of wisdom in this room” and I got to see that wisdom first hand as we got down to business and shared positive strategies on tough stuff like isolation and depression. At one point I was pretty much stymied by a question but the group came up with a solution remarkably quickly.

So many of us are affected by this disease and between us we have many resources and skills we can share. If I had been able to sit in a room with all the great folks I worked with last night, I know my journey with cancer would have been a lot easier. I am really looking forward to bringing The Hope Workshop to as many people as possible.

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